The present invention relates to projectile launching devices for launching various types of projectiles. The invention is particularly useful in toys for launching soft or hollow balls, suction or magnetic darts, and the like, and the invention is therefore described below with respect to such applications, but it will be appreciated that the invention could also be used in other applications such as BB guns and other toy or non-toy weapons.
Various types of toy weapons have been developed for children for launching soft or hollow balls, suction or magnetic darts, and the like. Most of the known toys of this type utilize a spring-actuated hammer or impact device for physically impacting the projectile. However, projectiles which are subjected to repeated impact blows have a relatively short useful life, and therefore must be frequently replaced. This is particularly true where substantially large impacts are applied to the projectile in order to launch them at a relatively high velocity. In addition, the known devices do not readily permit the force applied to the projectile to be preset, and thereby the range or velocity of the projectiles to be varied. Further, such impact-type devices are relatively costly to produce, particularly when designed for applying high impact, and therefore not susceptible to low-cost volume production.